Anywhere But Here
by Stormy Daye
Summary: (Formerly "Where Did Cory Go?") Cory Dollanganger's story, he didn't die but was taken away by Corrine for a better life. #1 in set of 2 (**COMPLETE**)
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
I don't remember much of what happened before I came to live with the Ferguson's. I sometimes have memory flashes of paper yellow flowers and a little blond girl who looked like me. I don't remember what happened to bring me here, but I know it wasn't good. The Ferguson's told me I was left on their front porch. I was only seven. They don't know who brought me or where I came from. I was lying inside a very large box with a thin blanket and a note pinned to my jacket. The note said: Dear Nice Family, Please take care of me. I have nowhere to go. My Mama loves me but she has left me here for my own well being. My name is Cory. They brought me into their home even though I looked different than a normal child. My head was oversized and my body was small. They told me I was very sick when I came here but they nursed me back to health. My new mother, Penny Ferguson loved me like her own child. She was always buying me new things, which seemed strangely familiar to me. But she hugged me and showered me with love and that seemed foreign. Of course I wondered where I had been for the first seven years of my life and I wanted to know who the blond girl was but I loved my family. Despite my loving home, I still feel alone often. I have a severe case of claustrophobia that won't go away and even the thought of eating fried chicken makes me sick. Sometimes I feel empty, as if there id something missing in my life. I know it is the little girl that I always dream about. I know I miss her but I don't know why or if I will ever see her again. I pray at night to remember my past but then I have dreams of a giant of a woman who comes to a tiny room and never smiles or laughs and I think I don't want to know what happened to me before. Maybe I'll be safer not knowing. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
"Cory dear, breakfast is ready!" Penny Ferguson yelled from downstairs. I slowly got out of bed and checked the sheets. I had peed the bed again. My pajamas were wet and the sheets had a big wet circle. My heart started thumping at the thought of Penny or Carl finding out what I had done. I ripped the sheets off the bed and stuffed them in the closet.  
  
"Cory?" Penny was on her way up the stairs.  
  
I shut the door to my room quickly and said, "I'm getting dressed,"  
  
"Okay, dear, but your pancakes are getting cold," she said.  
  
"Just a minute," I told her. I listened through the door to her retreating footsteps. When she was gone  
  
I went to the hall closet and pulled out a pair of clean sheets. I examined them to make sure there were no traces of yellow on them. I despised the colour yellow and refused to wear it, sleep on it or even eat anything that was yellow. I don't know what I had against yellow but to me it represented disappointments.  
  
I got dressed quickly after putting the new sheets on my bed. I was pretty fast since I had done it so many times. Penny didn't know I wet the bed and I would do anything to make sure she didn't find out.  
  
My bedroom was fairly small, but to me it was a palace. It had a double bed that I had all to myself.  
  
The covers had baseball equipment on them. I had a dresser full on clothes that I loved. Clothes that I got to wear outside of my room.  
  
The Ferguson's house was on a farm in Virginia. It had horses, cows, pigs, chickens and even a couple dogs. I loved the dogs and I played with them outside whenever I could. Playing outside was my favourite thing to do; I couldn't get enough of the fresh air and sunshine. I loved to make snowmen in the winter and play baseball in the summer.  
  
The Ferguson's didn't have any other children so I often felt lonely. I longed for a sister to play with. My memory wasn't very good but I did remember a girl who looked like me with curly blond hair and blue eyes. We were together all the time. I also faintly remembered another boy and girl with the same hair and eyes but they were older. I think they were my real parents. We lived in a small house with only one bedroom and bathroom. There were stairs that went up to a large attic where we spent most of our time. We never went outside and we never went to school. We only had food when the mean lady brought us fried chicken. I don't like fried chicken.  
  
I dream about my old family and wonder where they are. I do love the Ferguson's but I miss my family.  
  
I went downstairs and sat at the breakfast table. Carl was already at work on the farm. He had to milk the cows and get the eggs that the chickens laid. Sometimes he would let me take the eggs out from under the chickens.  
  
"Here are your pancakes," Penny said putting down a plate of two in front on me. I watched her pour the syrup onto the pancakes and suddenly I was no longer in the Ferguson's farmhouse. I was in the attic again.  
  
He cut his arm and put it up to my mouth. I turned my head away in protest but he held my head to his arm and I drank his blood. Then he held it up to the blond girl and she drank eagerly. We were so hungry.  
  
I gasped in surprise and turned away from the pancakes. All I could see was rat meat with blood drizzled on top. I gagged and stood quickly, knocking the chair backwards.  
  
"Cory!" Penny cried in surprise. I ran from the room in terror. What was happening to me? The memory flashes were becoming more frequent and more disturbing. Who made me drink his blood? And why would I do it? Was there no other food for me to eat?  
  
I ran up to my room and huddled in the corner. I trembled in fear when I heard the slow footsteps coming up the stairs. I pulled myself into a tighter ball. Maybe she wouldn't see me.  
  
The door creaked open slowly and I began to whimper in terror. The Grandmother was coming to punish me for not eating her food. She was going to whip me and hurt me for wetting the bed.  
  
"Cory, what is it?" the voice asked. I didn't answer. I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended I was in a happy place where I could run in the garden and chase butterflies.  
  
I felt a hand on my knee and I flinched. I was shaking so hard and I couldn't stop. Tears began running down my face and suddenly I heard screams. Who was screaming?  
  
Just before I passed out I realized that I was the one screaming in terror.  
  
I watched the beautiful girl dance around the attic in awe. She spun on her toes and leaped across they room. She was so graceful. She arms flowing around her body in gentle waves. The music was a tinkling piano song that reminded me of fairies. The girl spun around and around and I began to get dizzy watching her spin. Suddenly I started to fall, down, down, down, into a dark hole where there was no light or hope. Would I ever escape?  
  
I opened my eyes to a bright white light. I squinted into the face of Penny. She looked concerned.  
  
"Oh, dear," she breathed and she hugged me tightly.  
  
I looked around and found I was in a plain room I didn't recognize.  
  
"Where's Cathy?" I asked suddenly. I frowned after I asked my question. Who was Cathy?  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't know who that is dear," Penny said. She had tears in her eyes. A doctor came into the room and Penny started to whisper with him. I strained to hear what they were saying but they were too quiet. I didn't like being in the dark. I wanted to know what was going on. I had to know.  
  
"He's only eight years old!" Penny exclaimed.  
  
The doctor touched her arm gently and told her something that made her quiet down. What were they talking about?  
  
Penny came back over to me and smiled. She kissed my forehead.  
  
"We can take you home now," she helped me change my clothes and we left the hospital. I was quiet all the way home. I couldn't get the beautiful dancer out of my head. She had been so lovely. I didn't want to ever forget what she looked like. And the music she listened to, it sounded so familiar. When we got home, Penny went to talk to Carl. I was left in the house alone. I felt myself being drawn to the piano. I had felt an urge to play it before but it wasn't as strong as it was now. I sat down and put my fingers on the keys.  
  
I dreamt about the song the ballerina was dancing to and played it out on the piano. I didn't know how I knew the notes but it sounded just like the song in my dream.  
  
I knew that my life before I came to live here was slowly coming back to me, but each time I had a new memory I wished it would go away. And when I had one that I wanted to remember forever I would forget it. It would be lost in the swirling emptiness of my mind. I felt like I was slowly becoming detached from my own body and floating away. I was a drifter who didn't know where to go or even what he wanted.  
  
All I knew was that I needed to find the blond girl who haunted my dreams. She was the key to my troubled thoughts. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
Penny said she was going to take me to see a doctor. I didn't know what she meant. I had just come home from the hospital where the doctors were, why did I need to see another one?  
  
"It's a different kind of doctor," she explained softly. She had tears in her eyes and I could tell by the strain in her voice that she was trying very hard not to cry.  
  
I didn't know what to think about going to see this different kind of doctor. I wasn't aware there were different kinds of doctors.  
  
It was summer time so I didn't have to worry about missing school. Summer time was my favourite time of year, I was outside as much as possible.  
  
"Go outside and wait for me to take you to Dr. Collins' office," Penny told me. She held the screen door open for me and I went out. It was a warm, sunny day. The garden was in full bloom with daisies, tulips and roses. Penny was a very good gardener. Sometimes I helped her pull weeds. I went over to the wooden fence that separated the horses from the rest of the yard. All the horses were outside. Carl always let them go wherever they wanted within their yard and the barn. The Ferguson's had three horses. They were a family. There was a female horse, a beautiful, brown Spanish Mustang. She had a strip of white on her forehead down to her nose. Her name was Jewel. The male horse was also a Spanish Mustang, but he was a jet-black colour with some dark brown spots on his sides. His name was Hardy. The two horse had had a baby in the spring, it was a male pony named Spunky. He had his fathers back coat and the same white stripe that Jewel had. I went out to feed the horses all the time. That was my regular chore. I had really grown to love Spunky. I liked to think he was excited when he saw me coming.  
  
Spunky was really my only friend during the summer. I had a few friends in school but I rarely saw them outside of school. I had no real desire to and they didn't really make the effort either.  
  
When Spunky saw me leaning against the fence he stood up, still a little wobbly and came running over. I smiled at him and petted him head gently.  
  
"How are you today Spunky?" I asked. I knew he couldn't answer me but I always spoke to the animals as if they could understand what I was saying.  
  
"That's good," I said, "I have to go to the doctor's now, but I'll be home soon, don't' worry," I turned around and saw Penny watching me from the door of the farmhouse. She had the strangest look on her face.  
  
She came out when she realized I knew she was there. She got in to the car and waiting for me. I trudged over slowly. I didn't want to go to this Dr. Collins' house to talk. I didn't like strangers and I especially didn't like talking to them.  
  
Dr. Collins' house was a large Victorian style with a second level balcony and a lot of intricate trim. We rang the doorbell and a short woman with brown hair pulled back in a tight bun answered the door.  
  
"Penny Ferguson?" she asked.  
  
Penny nodded and smiled. The woman opened the door and we went inside. The front foyer was very large. I could see the huge winding staircase and I longed to go up and explore everything in this house. I wondered briefly if there was an attic. I looked up at the ceiling and the thought passed through me head that maybe there were children up there that needed my help. The thought disappeared when a man in his late forties came into the foyer. He was leaning on a wooden cane and he had a limp in his right leg. He had blond hair that was a little thin on the top and blue eyes that sparkled with warmth. He looked very distinguished and he even looked a little familiar. His strong jaw reminded me of someone I knew. I felt comfortable with him right away.  
  
"You must be Cory," he said smiling.  
  
I nodded shyly. I felt comfortable with him but I was still shy, I wasn't going to be outwardly excited about coming here.  
  
"I'm Dr. Collins," he said. He held out his hand for me to shake. I just stared at it for a minute and then  
  
Penny nudged me. I put my tiny hand in his and he shook it.  
  
"Won't you come into my office?" he asked.  
  
"Sure," Penny answered.  
  
"Pamela, will you bring us some lemonade and sugar doughnuts?" Dr. Collins asked the woman who had answered the door.  
  
She nodded and scurried away.  
  
"This is a beautiful home," Penny told the doctor.  
  
"Thank you, I grew up here," Dr. Collins answered.  
  
We followed him into an office. I stopped dead in the doorway and held on tight to Penny's hand. I couldn't enter this room. I had thought this might happen, but I pushed the thought away, I didn't want to worry about it too much. But my worst nightmare had come true. Dr. Collins' office was painted pale yellow.  
  
I glared at the walls in anger. I didn't where it was coming from, you can't be angry at a colour can you?  
  
"Cory, come on in," Penny urged.  
  
I shook my head.  
  
She turned to the doctor who was studying me closely, "This happens a lot, he seems to be deathly afraid or maybe even angry at the colour yellow, and he has a severe case of claustrophobia," Penny explained.  
  
Dr. Collins nodded with understanding.  
  
"Why don't we go talk in the den?" he suggested.  
  
I felt much better when the door to the yellow room was shut tight behind me.  
  
In the den Penny began to tell Dr. Collins how I had come to live with her and her husband. He looked very surprised when she described the note that had been left with me.  
  
Pamela brought in the doughnuts and lemonade.  
  
"Please help yourselves," the doctor said.  
  
Penny reached for a doughnut and was about to put it in her mouth when I screamed, "NOOO!"  
  
I swatted the white sugar doughnut away from Penny's mouth and it bouncing onto the blue carpeting, leaving white powder in its wake.  
  
"Cory!" Penny shrieked. She turned to yell at me but stopped when she saw the look on my face. I couldn't let anyone be hurt by those doughnuts. Suddenly Penny's transformed. Her nose shrank and her eyes got bigger. They changed to a sky blue colour and her hair started to curl by itself and turn to a light shade of blond.  
  
"Carrie," I breathed. She reached for another doughnut and she giggled.  
  
"NO!" I yelled, "Don't eat that!"  
  
"Why not Cory? It tastes so goooood, don't you want any?" she asked.  
  
I shook my head vigorously.  
  
"The Grandmother is going to be mad if you don't eat your doughnut," she said.  
  
"No, I won't eat it," I told her defiantly.  
  
"Do it for me Cory, please?" she asked. Her lips turned into a pout and she picked up another doughnut for me.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll help you," she giggled again and she shoved the doughnut into my mouth. I gagged in surprise and turned away from her.  
  
When I looked back at her, it was no long Carrie; it was Penny again. She had a horrified expression on her face. I had a doughnut in my hand and it was in crumbs between my fingers.  
  
Dr. Collins was also staring at me. He took out a notebook and began to write something down.  
  
"What?" I asked quietly.  
  
"We have a lot of work to do," he doctor said. 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
Penny set up an appointment for me for the very next day. I didn't want to go back at all, let alone so soon. Dr. Collins was nice enough; it was just that his house seemed to trigger a lot of memories for me. I used to think I wanted to know what had happened to me before I came to live with the Ferguson's but the more I remembered, the more I just wanted to forget.  
  
Who was this Carrie girl? She looked a lot like me, had my curly blond hair and blue eyes. Her head was even slightly too big for her body just like mine.  
  
Penny drove us home in silence. I think she was afraid of what I would do. I wondered if she wished she had never taken me into her home. I loved Penny and Craig, they were the only parents I could remember. Although I suspected that Cathy was my mother. But if that were true then why didn't I call her Mom?  
  
Everything that happened just confused me further.  
  
At home I went out to the stable to talk to Spunky. I often talked to him when I had a memory flashed. I had tried to talk to Penny about it when they first started but she didn't seem to want to hear about my former life. I knew I could never talk to Craig about it. He wasn't the kind of parent who liked to bond with his child. Maybe he would try harder if I were his real child.  
  
"Hi Spunky," I said sitting down in the hay beside him. Penny would scold me for getting my clothes dirty but right now I just didn't care.  
  
"I had a couple more memory flashes today at the doctors," I told him. He snorted and turned his face to me. I patted the top of his head and grabbed the horse brush from the shelf. He seemed to like it when I brushed him. His coat was very shiny; I had been out here a lot lately.  
  
I hugged Spunky around the neck and got up from the ground. I had to go inside for supper. I knew what it would be like. I would sit there quietly, trying to ignore how the gravy had a weird red tinge to it. Trying to taste to delicious roast Penny had made instead of the cold fried chicken.  
  
Suppertime had never been my favourite time of the day. I wanted it to be over as quick as possible so I took small portions and never had seconds. I was skinny for and eight-year-old. Sometimes I saw Penny looking at me at dinner as I picked at my food. I knew she was worried about me, and I hated doing that to her.  
  
Craig came in for dinner tonight. He didn't ask about the doctor's appointment, I doubted he even knew about it. I loved Craig but we weren't close. I wasn't close to Penny either. She tried to bond with me. She took me to a movie once in awhile. We went to see one where two cartoon people were shipwrecked on a desert island and they didn't speak to anyone for months. It disturbed me a great deal and I cried for two days straight after that. Penny stopped taking me to the movies after that. I couldn't blame her. I was very temper mental; no one ever knew what would set me off or when. Not even me.  
  
After dinner I went straight up to my room. I could feel Penny's eyes burning a hole in my back. I didn't want to go back to the doctor's office tomorrow. I was dreading it.  
  
I sat at my desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside there was a black recorder. Last year in school my music class learned how to play them. I could play songs like Mary had a little lamb from the second I opened the case. I didn't need help learning the notes like the other kids.  
  
Music helped me express my emotions. At least that was what my music teacher, Ms. Valentine told Penny. She said I had a natural gift for music and even said she would give me private lessons on the violin or the piano. I wanted to very much but Penny said no. She rarely said no to me but she didn't like music. She was strange that way. We didn't have a record player in the farmhouse and the old piano had a cover on it at all times. She never told me why she didn't like music, and I never asked. I only played the piano when she was out of the house and I thought I was teaching myself pretty well.  
  
I wished sometimes that I had my own record player that I could listen to classical music on. Surely Penny wouldn't disapprove to that. Classical music was beautiful. My personal favourite was the Nutcracker. Whenever I heard it I saw a beautiful girl dancing in a pink tutu. She spun around on her toes and leaped across the attic. It was strange, but I never saw her dancing anywhere but in the attic. On the old wood of the floor where I sometimes got slivers.  
  
I remember getting slivers and running down the stairs crying for my mother. The blond girl came and comforted me; she took the tweezers and pulled the tiny piece of wood out of my finger. Funny how something so small could cause pain so much bigger. I would look into her blue eyes, eyes the same as mine and ask, "Where's Momma?"  
  
I snapped out of my reverie and I was back in my room at the Ferguson's.  
  
"She wasn't my mother," I realized out loud.  
  
Since I had remembered the beautiful ballerina who danced in the attic and fed me my supper I had believed that she was my mother. But she wasn't. I never saw my mother. It was like she only came to visit once in awhile. But how could that be true. Doesn't a mother want to be with her children as much as possible?  
  
The ballerina is Cathy, I realized.  
  
I gasped in surprise. I was remembering a lot today and I didn't know if I wanted it to go away or if I wanted to remember more. I was torn between the good and evil of my memories. Some of them were so frightening that I wanted to get so sick again that I would never remember any of it again. But some things I wanted to cherish in my memory forever. Like the little girl who looked like me. Her soft blond hair and how protective we were of eachother. I hoped I would never forget her.  
  
Every night since Carrie's face had shown up in my dreams, I would pray that I would see her again. I knew somehow that we loved eachother more that life itself and both of us would do anything to save the other.  
  
I prayed to dream about her again. I wanted to dream about the beautiful ballerina and my blond protector. But somehow I felt like something was still missing. It had taken me a long time to remember Cathy and Carrie and I still only had parts of memories. Who was the tall, lean shadow who stood behind Cathy in my dreams. He had his hand on her shoulder. His face was a dark shadow and when I tried to think of his name I drew a blank.  
  
I knew he was important. I could tell he would protect any one of us with his life. He would rather die himself than see anything bad happen to any of us, especially Cathy. Sometimes in my dreams he would be reading a book. I saw him stretched on a bed with his nose buried inside an encyclopedia, but his face was always a dark shadow. I wanted to remember him. It made me feel safe to think of him watching over me.  
  
I lay in bed that night, holding my recorder to my chest. I suddenly felt good about going back to see Dr. Collins. I wanted to remember everything, I decided; the good and the bad, because you can't have happiness without first going through the hard part. I couldn't learn from my mistakes if I couldn't remember them, and I wanted to learn. 


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
I sat in Dr. Collins' office alone this time. He said Penny could come in but I saw the look on her face. She didn't want to witness what I would do, but she didn't want to hurt my feelings. So I told her I would like to go in by myself. Now I was regretting it.  
  
"Now Cory, tell me how you feel about Penny and Craig Ferguson," the doctor said. He had on a gray suit with a tie with cartoon puppies. I could see his grandchildren getting him that tie for Christmas. He wore it for them.  
  
"I like them both, they are very nice to me," I said quickly. I didn't think this had anything to do with Penny and Craig. I didn't want to talk about them. I wanted to talk about Cathy and Carrie.  
  
"You love them like they are your parents," he asked.  
  
I nodded. What was he getting at?  
  
"Penny told me that you are good in school but you don't have many friends," he said. He leaned back in his large, brown leather chair and folded his hands on the desk. He had a pad of paper to right down notes about me. I could see there were already a few scribbles on it. I had barely said ten words. What could he possibly have to write down already?  
  
"Yes," was all I said.  
  
He narrowed his eyes, "You don't seem very talkative today," he said.  
  
I almost laughed. This doctor claimed he knew people. That he went to school to study how people felt but he didn't seem to know what I really needed. Even with my outburst yesterday he didn't ask me who Carrie was. He made me talk about Penny and school. I didn't think these things mattered.  
  
"Can we talk about where I came from?" I asked suddenly. I was surprised at my own outburst. I was usually quiet and let other people do the deciding.  
  
Dr. Collins jotted something down and leaned back again, "Sure, where did you come from?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know," I told him, "I just appeared,"  
  
"Surely you know that is impossible," he said.  
  
I nodded. But I was thinking just the opposite. It seemed like I did just appear from nowhere. Why would someone leave a five-year-old child on a porch for strangers to take care of? I didn't think any one could answer that question for me. Or my questions about Cathy and Carrie.  
  
"You seemed to be talking to a girl named Carrie yesterday," Dr. Collins said, "Is that someone you know from school,"  
  
"No, she looks like me," I said.  
  
"Your sister then?" he leaned forward. He knew I had no family that anyone knew about. If I could remember having a sister then maybe I could remember having a mother and a father.  
  
I didn't say anything. She could be my sister. I had a sister. Someone who I could play with and talk to. Someone my own age. She was my twin sister.  
  
"My twin sister," I told him suddenly.  
  
He stared at me a moment and then began writing furiously. He reached down to a drawer. I heard a key slipping into a lock. I froze for a minute before jumping off the couch I was sitting on and running behind it. I heard the slow scratch of the metal key in the lock. It was going so slow but it didn't seem like I could get away. She would find me.  
  
"Cory?" a voice said. My body shook all over. Where was Mama?  
  
"Cathy?" I whispered, "Don't let her get me," I curled up in a ball on the ground. I felt someone beside me. I looked up. It was Carrie. Her curly blond hair was disheveled. She looked just as frightened as I felt. Suddenly I saw Carrie being yanked upwards. And there she was. The Grandmother. A huge hulk of a woman, wearing a gray dress with a brooch. Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun,  
  
"NOO!" I yelled.  
  
She pulled Carrie up by her beautiful hair and swung her away from me. I heard her squeal in agony. I backed away from the giant woman until I hit the wall. I couldn't escape any further. I couldn't get away from her.  
  
"Cory please," I heard someone beg. I think it was Cathy. She was here to help me. I stood up and saw the Grandmother again. She was far away from me, but not far away from Carrie. She was going to hurt her. She picked her up by her pink shirt and carried her, screaming, over to me. I shivered at the sight of her steel gray eyes. Everything about this woman was gray. She was evil, I could feel it leaking from her pores. Carrie was screaming in pain.  
  
Finally I wouldn't take anymore. I ran at the massive woman. I put my head down and charged into her stomach. She didn't budge but I was propelled backwards into a table. Pain shot through my back and I yelped. The Grandmother came closer. I bent down and grabbed her tree trunk of a leg in my tiny hands. I bit down on her calf as hard as I could. She let out a gasp and dropped Carrie in a crying heap.  
  
Maybe I should have let it go then, but I couldn't forget about her hurting my sister. She wasn't going to get away with it. I turned around and found a crystal vase on the floor. Just lying there, waiting for me.  
  
I picked it up and heaved it at the woman. It shattered on her forehead in an explosion of glass and blood. The hulk fell to the ground and suddenly transformed into a man. Smaller than the evil gray lady. Wearing a tie with cartoon dogs on it. Carrie was now a pink blanket covered in dark red blood and broken crystal.  
  
I gasped and shrank away from the fallen doctor. What had I done?  
  
Two policemen raced into the room along with Penny. They took one look at the doctor and me standing there shaking and I screamed at the top of my lungs.  
  
Hands grabbed me from all angles. I kicked and screamed.  
  
"You can't take me away! Not again!" I yelled. I felt my knee connect with the soft bone of someone's nose. When I brought my knee back up to my chest I saw blood on my beige pants. Someone was moaning on the floor.  
  
The policemen finally pinned me down and I felt someone stick a needle in my arm. I squirmed a little harder until I felt too weak to move. My eyes felt heavy and I lay still. The last things I heard before I passed out were, "I think it's broken," and "There's no pulse."  
  
Finally black mercy took over. 


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
When I woke up, I was on a small bed that crackled when I moved. It had a plastic cover under the sheets just in case the person who was sleeping here had an accident. I groaned and rolled onto my side. The thin white blanket I was under was scratchy and stiff.  
  
I swept my eyes around the room once. I was in a small square room that was painted white. There was a brown, wooden chair in the corner and a door that was shut tight.  
  
Where am I? I wondered. I sat up slowly and stood up. The floor was white tile. All this white was hurting my eyes. The room had no windows except for a tiny one up to high for me to reach.  
  
I went to the door and turned the chrome handle. It was locked.  
  
"No!" I whispered. Why was I locked in this room? Why? Who would do this to me? I went back to the bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling.  
  
I saw at the corner of my eyes, the room change. The bed I was laying on grew higher from the ground and the walls shifted to make the room larger. There was another identical bed beside mine.  
  
"You are here, but you don't really exist," someone said.  
  
I looked up and found the evil gray woman. She was talking to us. Carrie was sleeping I the other bed now. Cathy was standing beside the boy whose face I couldn't see. There was a new woman who looked so much like Cathy. I knew I loved her but I didn't know why.  
  
"I'll sneak up to visit with you when I can," the new woman said before being pushed out the door by the gray woman. The door was slammed shut and then there was a key in the lock. I couldn't turn to look at that locked door. And I couldn't help wondering if I would ever get out.  
  
"Cory..Cory," a voice said. The bed shrank back down to normal size and the walls closed back in the make the room a small square again.  
  
Above me was Penny's face. She looked concerned. Her eyes were red and puffy. It looked like she had been crying. I didn't say anything to her. She had locked me in here. I didn't like locks and I didn't like people who used locks.  
  
"Cory, honey, talk to me," she said. A tear fell from her face and landed on the white sheets. I reached out a wiped the small wet spot.  
  
"Why am I locked in?" I asked. I didn't look at her.  
  
"Don't you remember what happened at Dr. Collins'?" she asked. She pulled the brown chair over to by bedside and sat down. She took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I didn't squeeze back.  
  
"He's in the hospital," she said quietly.  
  
I didn't say anything. I only remembered the evil gray woman and more locks. Why were there so many locks in the world?  
  
"You hit him on the head with a glass vase, but he is going to be fine," Penny said. "Where are we?" I asked. I wanted to go back home to Penny and Craig's house. I wanted to see Spunky, maybe brush his coat for a while. I wanted to tell him what happened.  
  
"Don't worry, they are coming to take you somewhere nicer," Penny said. Tears ran down her face and she reached up to wipe them away quickly.  
  
I sighed in relief. I didn't know what I would do if I had to stay locked in this white room with no one but myself.  
  
The big, white door opened again and two men in white jumpers came in.  
  
"It's time," the taller one said.  
  
Penny nodded and leaned over to hug me, "You have to go to live somewhere else for awhile Cory," she said. She was crying freely now.  
  
"Not back to the Grandmother's house," I said in terror.  
  
The two white men just looked at eachother and shook their heads.  
  
"No, honey," Penny said, "Don't be afraid, Craig and I will visit you as much as we can," she said.  
  
"That's what she said!" I yelled, "She said she would come up and visit us whenever she could!"  
  
The other woman in my dream had been my real mother. I remembered now. She said that she would come and visit us whenever she could. And she did at first but slowly the visits started getting shorter and then she would only come up once in awhile.  
  
"I don't believe you!" I yelled at Penny. She shrank back against the wall and hugged herself protectively. I ran at her and slapped her in the face .She looked more startled than hurt. The white men came behind me and grabbed my arms. I stopped struggling when I saw Penny's face. I could see that she wanted to best for me. She wanted me to be happy. She thought I would be happy where I was going. But I knew otherwise.  
  
"It'll only be for a little while dear," Penny called out after us. The white men were dragging me through the white corridor. There were other white men and a few white women watching us.  
  
"She said that too," I whispered.  
  
I was put in the pack of a police car. Did they think I was a criminal? I was only a little boy. They should be saving this car for the real bad people. The evil Grandmother never had to go to jail. She was so evil that she called us the devil's spawn. She was the real devil's spawn. Couldn't anybody see that?  
  
"You should be taking away the gray woman. She's the bad one!" I yelled through the grate into the front of the police car.  
  
The officers just ignored me. Why should they listen to an eight year old? Who would they listen to? I had to make them believe me.  
  
"Cathy will tell you!" I yelled, "get Cathy, I need to talk to Cathy!"  
  
They didn't say anything. I sat back against the seat and crossed my arms in frustration. I looked out the window and saw a train go flying by. There were so many things I hated. I could name them all any time anybody asked. The only problem was, people didn't ask what you hated, they asked, what you liked. There weren't many things I liked. Nothing anybody would understand at least.  
  
We had to stop at the tracks to let the train pass. It was going so slow, as if it was taunting me. I knew the train was the beginning of my problems. It took me right into a place I would never escape. No one could escape the place the train took me.  
  
We went over the tracks and entered a town called Charlottesville. I watched the buses load up with passengers and I wished that I were on one of them. Escaping. Going away. Anywhere but here. I didn't care where I was as long as it was far away from here.  
  
We drove for a long time. I sat in the back silently. I was through wasting my energy on people who would barely even acknowledge me. I couldn't help remembering Christmas time in the locked room. We gave the evil woman a present that we had worked so hard one. We just wanted her to like us. But she was the same as these policemen; she threw the present away and left us alone again. I wondered if I would ever find someone to pay attention to me again. Would I always be just another number?  
  
Maybe it was for the best that I was going to a place to be alone. At least it was far away from the memories. I thought I could escape the memories but I couldn't. You can't escape something like that. 


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
The police officers took me to the front gate of the hospital and the driver spoke into an intercom. I felt like I was a prisoner being taken to spend his last days behind bars.  
  
The white gates creaked open and we went up the long drive way slowly. Just as we pulled up to the front of the large brick building it started to rain. No warning, it just started to pour. Someone opened the door beside me and grabbed my arm. I was pulled out of the car quickly and then I was under an awning before any rain could touch me.  
  
I looked up at the person. It was a very tall man with black hair. His eyes were tiny and they sunk into his head. I looked into them but had to look away before I was pulled into the black nothingness that was his soul.  
  
"The doctor's called to tell us about you," he said smirking, "You are an evil little one aren't you?" he picked up the one suit case that the police officer had put on the cement beside us and we went into the building.  
  
"I'm not evil," I said quietly.  
  
The man stopped and grabbed my arm roughly, "Don't talk to me unless I ask you a question," he growled.  
  
I didn't say another word after that. It was no use telling anyone that I was not evil. Maybe I was, and I just didn't want to admit it. The evil woman always called us devil's issue. If so many people thought I was bad then maybe I was. Maybe I shouldn't fight it any longer.  
  
The man took me up to a room on the second floor. All the other doors only had one window at the top. I saw a couple faces looking out at me. One girl looked young. She had a wistful look on her face as she watched me pass. Another old man glared at me through the glass and I was thankful that the doors were locked.  
  
"This will be your room for the first week, you are an extreme case right now, but if you behave you will be taken to the third floor where you will get a roommate nad more privileges," the man told me. He opened one of the doors and threw my suitcase inside.  
  
"Supper will be brought to you, there is a toilet over there, breakfast will also be brought to you, tomorrow will be your first session with the doctor," the man said and he closed the door behind him. I looked around the room sadly. The walls were pale blue and the bed was a tiny cot in the middle of the room with blue blankets and a white pillow. There was a old desk in the corner with a chair that looked like it would collapse if you put a feather on it.  
  
I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands.  
  
"What did I do to deserve this?" I asked out loud.  
  
"You hurt that man," a voice said. I looked up to find the evil woman standing at the door. She was wearing the same gray dress and the same brooch that she wore at Dr. Collins' house.  
  
I pulled my knees up to my chest and shrank back against the wall.  
  
"I always knew you were bad," she sneered, "No one good would have hurt a person like that,"  
  
I didn't answer her. I wished Cathy were here to protect me. I couldn't get away from the Grandmother when the door was locked. I was trapped with her all alone in here.  
  
"Please don't hurt me," I whispered.  
  
"Hurt you?" she cackled, "Devil's issue hurt themselves," she laughed.  
  
I pressed my hands against my ears and lay down on the bed. She continued to laugh and laugh until I fell into a restless sleep.  
  
I woke up with a start.  
  
The light was still on in my room but when I looked out the window it was dark. I heard a scream from outside my room. I jumped off the bed and went to the door. But the window was too high for me to see out. I pulled the chair from the desk over to the door and stood on it. I peered out in the hallway. Across form me a boy stared out his window. He looked just as frightened as I felt. He shifted his gaze and met my eyes. We stared at eachother for a minute before I looked away. He seemed so lost. He didn't want to be here. That was exactly how I felt.  
  
I strained to look further down the hall. I caught a glimpse of a white night gown. I pushed my face up against the glass so I could see better. There was another shriek and I jumped. I almost fell backwards off the chair. It cracked under me and I thought for a minute that it was going to break. But it didn't.  
  
Suddenly the young girl I had seen looking at me earlier came down the hall right outside my door. She was crying frantically and she screamed when the man with black hair came closer to her. She stumbled on the carpet and fell to the ground. The man took that chance to pounce on her. He had a needle in his hand which he stuck in her arm. She struggled a moment longer and then calmed down enough for the man to drag her to her feet and pull her down the hall back to her room.  
  
I looked back across the hall to the boy but he was gone. His room was black through the little window in the door.  
  
I climbed down off the chair and put in back under the desk. I switched the light off and went back to lie in bed. I stared up at the ceiling for a long while. I tried to close my eyes and sleep but the tall man's black eyes were always staring back at me.  
  
I got off the bed and walked over to the tiny window that led outside. There was a thick screen covering the window. I looked out at the dark sky. I couldn't see any stars because of the clouds. I wondered if Carrie was looking up at these same clouds somewhere wondering where I was. I couldn't remember very well my life before but I knew that Cathy, Carrie and the other boy were a huge part of it.  
  
I lay back down on the bed and eventually fell into a light sleep.  
  
A loud banging woke me up the next morning. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the door. The man with black hair was standing there scowling in at me. He opened the door. He was carrying a tray of food.  
  
"I brought you supper last night but you didn't wake up so I took it to someone else," he said. He set the tray on the desk.  
  
"I'll be back to get the tray and take you to the doctor's office," he said and he left me alone again. If he knew that I had seen him last night with the girl then he didn't acknowledge it.  
  
I sat down at the desk and looked down at the food. There was a bowl of porridge and a glass of milk. There was a small apple beside the bowl. It looked like it had been dropped on the floor a few times it had so many bruises.  
  
I ate the bland porridge quickly. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now. I hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. I drank the milk quickly, pushing away the memories of milk that we kept cold in the winter by putting it in the attic.  
  
The man came back a little while later.  
  
"Follow me," he said. He carried the tray and I followed him down the hallways. Some rooms had nameless faces staring out of the windows. Some were dark and empty. The girl's room was silent as I passed it. The man took me to the floor where the doctor's officers were. This floor had red paint on the walls and white carpet. It looked so much more inviting then the beige walls and carpet on the other floors I had seen.  
  
We went into a room that had blue wallpaper with white flowers on it. There was a large cherry wood desk and a leather chair where I assumed the doctor would sit. There were two white leather chairs on the other side of the desk. I saw a nameplate on the desk that read: DR. ADRIENNE CHAMBERS.  
  
I sat in one of the chairs and waited.  
  
A minute later the doctor came into the room. She was a small woman with white hair. She had nice blue eyes and a soft looking mouth. She didn't look as old as her hair suggested she was.  
  
"Cory?" she asked before sitting down in her leather chair.  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Thank you Rufus," she said to the tall man that had been standing near the door the whole time.  
  
"You know what he did to the last doctor," Rufus said.  
  
"Yes," she said and raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Okay," Rufus said, "Call me if you need me to teach him a lesson," he said. I heard him laugh under his breath as he left the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
"So, Cory, are you ready to talk?" she asked.  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Let me tell you how everything will work while you are here," she said. She folded her hands on the desk and sat back.  
  
"You will have a session with me three times a week, we will talk about your family, what happened with your previous doctor, anything you want," she said, "I will give you medication as I see fit. If you are good you will be moved down to a room with a roommate, if you are not, you will stay in isolation on the second floor,"  
  
I looked down at my hands.  
  
"We are going to get to the bottom of everything that has happened okay?" she said, her tone getting softer.  
  
"Okay," I said quietly.  
  
"Okay, lets get started," she said. 


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
"What is your first memory?" Dr. Chambers asked. She was leaned back in her chair and she had a pad and a pen poised to write.  
  
I hesitated. I didn't know if she wanted my first memory ever or my first memory that I had about my life before Penny and Craig.  
  
"Your fist memory of your entire life," she verified, as if she could read my mind.  
  
"Um, well I remember playing going on a train with some other people in the middle of the night," I said.  
  
"Is that all you remember about the trip, that you were with other people?" she asked, she was scribbling on her pad as she asked me this, she didn't even look up when she spoke to me. This all felt so impersonal.  
  
"I only remember being on a train at night with other people," I said.  
  
"How old were you?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know,"  
  
"How do you know this is your first memory?" she asked, she looked up at me.  
  
"I just know," I said. In my head I knew this was my first memory because I was happy with the people on the train. I couldn't remember being that happy for any amount of time since that train ride. But I wasn't going to tell that to Dr. Chambers yet.  
  
"Your records say that you have been having delusions of someone your call the Grandmother and some other people," she said.  
  
"Carrie and Cathy, I don't know that man's name, he was always with Cathy," I said. I stopped myself from telling her that Cathy was like a mother to me.  
  
"Okay," she scribbled some more. I sat there and played with the fabric that was coming off the arm of the chair. Dr. Chambers' forehead was crinkled as she stared intently at her pad and wrote furiously. I didn't think I had said that much, but she flipped the page over and started writing on the other side.  
  
"What.What are you writing?" I asked timidly.  
  
"Just some ideas," she said. It sounded like an orchestrated answer. Like she said it to all the patients that wanted to know what she was writing.  
  
She opened her mouth to say something when the phone rang shrilly. She sighed and answered it.  
  
"Adrienne Chambers," she said formally, "Oh no, okay, yes, I'll be right there," she hung up the phone and stood up. She glanced at me and with what seemed like an after thought said,  
  
"Rufus will come and take you back to your room, I'll see you in a couple days, hopefully by then you will be in a more comfortable room," she said. She left the room before I could even say anything.  
  
Rufus was there in a matter of seconds. It was as if he was waiting for Dr. Chambers to call for help. How strange it was for a grown man to think and eight year old boy who was small for his age could be a danger to someone.  
  
Rufus didn't speak as he dragged me to a room I had never seen before. There were a few people inside playing cards or watching the tiny black and white television.  
  
"You will have your recreation time for a half and hour, I will come to take you to your room for lunch," he said. He took out a ring of keys and unlocked the door to the room. I couldn't believe they even locked you in the recreation room. It was like they were saying, have fun, or else.  
  
The door was locked behind me and I watched Rufus lumber away the light glinting off his black hair.  
  
I went to the couch and sat down. The lady beside me didn't look at me or even move. I looked at her for a second and noticed a thin line of drool snaking down her chin. Her eyes were unfocused and staring at the TV. There were two men playing cards. But after watching them for a moment I saw that they were just taking turns putting their cards in the pile in the center of the table.  
  
"Exciting recreation room huh?" a voice said. I turned around to find a girl who looked a little older than me standing by the couch.  
  
I nodded.  
  
The girl glanced at the old woman and said, "Want to use the clay with me?" she asked.  
  
I nodded again and got up to follow her over to the flimsy table that held the cracked and dried out chunks of clay. I say down and picked up a piece. It was hard as a rock.  
  
"This stuff has been here since I got her a year ago," the girl said, "I'm Michelle,"  
  
"I'm Cory," I said quietly. I had never had very many friends in my life. I always felt like the odd one out at school, the boy who no one wanted to be partners with in physical education.  
  
"How old are you?" Michelle asked. She put her light brown hair behind her ears and stared at me intently. She had very dark brown eyes. I was thankful when her eyes didn't send me into a painful memory. Strange things were always triggering my memory lapses.  
  
"Eight, I'll be nine soon though," I said.  
  
"I'm ten, I'll be eleven soon," she said, "I came here last year because I tried to kill myself, I jumped off the roof three times in a row,"  
  
I stared at her in shock. She seemed proud of the fact she was in a mental institution. She wasn't ashamed of being suicidal. I didn't want to tell her that I had sent my last doctor to the emergency room during our first visit.  
  
"Okay," was all I said. She stared at me for a moment, waiting for me to tell her my story. I didn't say anything.  
  
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me why you're here, I understand," she said. But she looked disappointed. I felt bad for not telling her but I just didn't want to yet. I could barely tell the doctor my past yet.  
  
"You're shy aren't you?" she asked, "I'm not,"  
  
"I know," I said quietly.  
  
"Do you think I'm talking too much? I'll stop if you want me to," she said.  
  
"No, it's okay," I said. At least if I was listening to Michelle talking then I wouldn't have to listen to the voices that told me that I was Devil's Spawn and as long as I was looking at Michelle's brown hair and brown eyes, I wouldn't have to remember Carrie's blond hair and blue eyes.  
  
Michelle continued to talk for the whole thirty minutes I had for recreation time. I found out that she had two sisters named Nicole and Patricia. She didn't like Patricia very much because she was always perfect and her parents thought Michelle should be just like her. She told me she loved chocolate ice cream but not chocolate bars. She could live off of chocolate ice cream bologna she said.  
  
When Rufus came back to get me I was disappointed. I didn't want to go back to my room to be alone for the rest of the day. I was sick of being alone all the time. I wanted to go home and sleep in my bed. I wanted to tell Penny that I loved her even though she wasn't my real mother. I wanted to tell her that you don't have to be someone's real mother to take care of them. Cathy knew that. I wanted to see my favourite pony Spunky and tell him everything that had happened. I wanted Craig to teach me to ride one of the bigger horses.  
  
I didn't know if I would even get to see Penny again. She said she would visit, but I had been there during to drive here, it was a long drive. Maybe Craig would tell her I wasn't worth it. I hoped he loved me as much as I loved him. I wanted him to spend time with me, we hadn't been together very long and now I had to leave them.  
  
In my room there was a plate with a sandwich on whole wheat bread with one piece of ham on it. There was no butter or mayonnaise. But I ate it anyway. I could handle eating things I didn't really like as long as it wasn't Chris' blood.  
  
"Chris!" I cried out loud. I remembered the man's name. The one who loved us all so much and loved Cathy so well.  
  
He had blond hair and blue eyes like the rest of us. I hoped that I would look like him when I got older. He liked to read; he knew everything. That was what Carrie and I thought. We thought he had the answers to everything.  
  
I slept in the bed by the window with him. He protected me and Cathy and Carrie too.  
  
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. All this remembering was beginning to get overwhelming. I never knew when it would happen or if it would be good or bad. Maybe the few good memories were worth the price of the bad memories.  
  
Why couldn't Chris come and save me form this place? I knew he could tell me what I wouldn't remember. Everything would be fine if I could see Chris again. Would I ever see Chris, Cathy and Carrie again? 


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
The next week went as slow as a turtle walking through quicksand. The minutes I spent locked in my tiny, bland room felt like hours and the short time I spent in the recreation room was spent listening to Michelle talk nonstop. After a half and hour with her I actually looked forward to the time in my room where it would be quiet.  
  
I didn't sleep well at night. My room was so dark, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I felt so lonely sleeping in that small bed. I wanted to big bed again. I wanted Chris to be beside me again. I had always felt so safe with him.  
  
I was remembering more and more about Chris every day. Sometimes instead of listening to Michelle babble I would think hard about Chris.  
  
He looked so much like Cathy. We all looked alike. Blond hair and blue eyes. Everyone thought we were beautiful children. Everyone except the Grandmother. She thought we were evil. Nothing we did was good in her eyes.  
  
Just sitting in the recreation room I could still feel the anger and hate that emanated from her. I couldn't imagine her ever being loving towards anyone. How could anyone marry her? I remember wondering what her husband was like to be able to put up with someone like her.  
  
Cathy and Chris hated her just as much and I did. They liked to spite her. She always made us memorize passages from the bible and they would take pleasure in memorizing the whole thing and then she could never catch them unprepared. She would get so angry when they knew every passage she asked them to recite.  
  
Carrie and I didn't like reading the bible. We wanted to play with the puzzles and toys that we had. But most of all we wanted to go outside. Sometimes Cathy would let us look out the window and every time we did it looked so wonderful. Even if it was overcast and raining it still looked wonderful.  
  
I was remembering so much now. I would have to tell Dr. Chambers everything. I didn't want her to know what it used to be like. I didn't want to tell her about Carrie, Cathy and Chris. They were my little secret. It felt like if I told anyone my memories then they would be lost forever. They would exit through my mouth and never come back. I couldn't lose Cathy, Carrie and Chris. They were all I had.  
  
The day came that a week had passed since I had been here. I was lying on my back on the bed just staring up at the ceiling. It was the time right after breakfast when I had nothing to do but wait for an appointment or recreation time.  
  
Rufus came to the door looking just as frightening as he did every other day. He never smiled at me or anyone else as far as I had seen. He always looked angry with everyone. He almost seemed like the kind of person who should be locked up in a place like this, not working in one.  
  
"Let's go," he said.  
  
"Where?" I asked softly. Rufus still made me nervous whenever he came into my room. I couldn't get that picture of him with that other person the first night I was here. He reminded me of a vicious wolf.  
  
"You get a different room," he said.  
  
I got up and picked up my bag. I hadn't unpacked yet. Maybe I was hoping that I would get out of here soon.  
  
I should have been excited about getting out of this locked room but it was hard for me to be excited about anything anymore. I had had so many disappointments in my life. I didn't know how to be excited anymore. I just didn't want to get hurt again.  
  
I followed Rufus down the stairs into a hall that was much brighter then the previous one. There was sunlight streaming in the window at the end of the hall and doors were open revealing normal looking people doing normal things in their rooms.  
  
I hadn't expected this hall to be so much different than the other one. It was like a whole different world. The people here seemed more like human beings rather than killer animals that have to be locked up.  
  
Rufus stopped in front of a doorway and said, "here is your room, you will not be locked in anymore, there is a recreation room on this floor where you can go any time you want. There is a cafeteria at the end of the hall and bathrooms at the other end," he walked away.  
  
I peered into the room and saw a boy about my age sitting on one of the beds. He looked relieved that Rufus was gone.  
  
"Hi," he said. He smiled a little.  
  
I smiled back and went into the room. I put my bag on the other bed and looked over at the boy. He was the opposite of what Carrie and I were. He had dark skin and dark brown hair. His eyes were also dark brown. When he smiled I saw that his teeth were very white.  
  
"I'm Jordan," he said.  
  
"I'm Cory," I told him.  
  
"Did you just get here?" he asked.  
  
I started to unpack my things and put them in the small dresser beside my bed. I was losing hope that I would get out of here any time soon. Penny and Craig hadn't even come to visit me yet.  
  
"No, I was on the third floor for a week," I said.  
  
He gasped, "The third floor?" he breathed. His eyes were open wide and his dark eyebrows were raised into two arches. His mouth made a tiny o.  
  
"Yes," I said.  
  
"Are the people crazy up there?" he asked.  
  
"I didn't meet any of them really," I told him.  
  
Jordan got up from the bed and ran from the room. I shrugged my shoulders and got back to unpacking my things. I didn't have much with me; only a few shirts, one sweater, a couple pairs of pants, socks and underwear. I didn't have anything personal like a teddy bear or a favourite book. I had stuffed animals and games and toys at the Ferguson's but I had never become attached to any of it.  
  
I felt around in the bottom of my bed and felt something smooth. I pulled it out. It was a photograph. I looked at it closely. It was a little crinkled but I knew what it was. It was a picture of me, Penny and Spunky. It was only a little while after I had come to live on the farm. I still didn't look totally healthy but I was smiling. I had my hand on the horse's back. Penny looked happy too.  
  
I remembered that day. Penny knew that I liked Spunky. When I was still sick and had to stay in bed I would always ask to look out the window at the horses. I would beg to go out and see them but Penny said I had to wait until I was better. That day was the first day I had been outside since I got to the Ferguson's. Craig took the picture.  
  
I was so happy then, before I started remembering the attic and the Grandmother. I didn't even know then that I didn't belong on the farm with Penny and Craig.  
  
"That's him," a voice said.  
  
I turned towards the door to find Jordan standing there with a few other kids, both older and younger than me. They whispered amongst themselves.  
  
"He was on the third floor," Jordan said.  
  
"What was it like?" another boy asked,  
  
"Did you see old lady Suzanne?" a girl asked.  
  
"Who?" I asked.  
  
"Old Lady Suzanne, she's been up there for years and years," the girl said.  
  
All the kids started talking again.  
  
"I heard a woman screaming, until Rufus came," I said loudly. I suddenly felt like talking to these people. It had been so long since I had been with people my own age. The last child I had played with was Carrie.  
  
"Oh no!" the boy said.  
  
All the kids piled into the room and sat on the two beds. They all stared up at me expectantly. I felt nervous now. I had never had this many people looking at me before. I had gotten nervous when the Grandmother made me recite from the bible.  
  
"I---It was only at night, I just heard a lady screaming and then Rufus came and it was quiet again," I told them quickly. I just wanted them to stop staring at me.  
  
"Rufus gave her the drugs," a boy said.  
  
"No, he probably hit her on the head," a small girl piped up.  
  
"Poor Old Lady Suzanne," Jordan said.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud voice overhead, "Lunch is being served in the cafeteria now," it said.  
  
The kids all cheered and ran out of the room.  
  
"C'mon, it's time for lunch," Jordan told me, "You can tell us more about the third floor,"  
  
I followed him down the hall.  
  
I was finally feeling happier then I had since I had gotten here. These kids were making me feel welcome here. Maybe I could stay here after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  
  
***A/N*** Does anyone know how old Cathy was when they escaped Foxworth Hall? If anyone can tell me, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! 


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
I don't know why institutions like this one are usually feared. No one wants to come to a place like this. But I am really starting to love it here. This is the first time I have had real friends in my entire life. Jordan and the other kids have really helped me. I don't dread the sessions with Dr. Chambers now. I just see them as a small but needed interruption of my life.  
  
It really does feel like I've been here forever and known these people forever. They make me feel happier than Penny and Craig ever did. I just know that Carrie would love it here.  
  
I still sometimes longed to see her. I would have dreams about her curly blond hair and how she used to be so loud and demanding. It used to be irritating to Chris and Cathy in the attic but I hardly even noticed. I loved her too much to see any flaws.  
  
My best friends here on the second floor were, Jordan, my roommate and a small girl, named Wendy who was a year older me but much smaller. We ate lunch together in the cafeteria and we played cards and used the play doh in the recreation room.  
  
Jordan told me he was there because he had jumped off his balcony twice and his parents thought he was suicidal. He didn't seem to mind it here. He had visitors a few times a week and they always brought chocolate bars in for him. He always shared with Wendy and me.  
  
I had been in the institution for almost a month now and Penny hadn't come to visit. I worried that something might have happened to her. But wouldn't they tell me if that were true? What would happen to me if Penny died? I didn't even want to think about that.  
  
Dr. Chambers and I talked about my life with Penny and Craig. I hadn't lived there long but she was always scribbling in her notebook. The Ferguson's was the one place that I had come away from with no baggage. But I guess you get baggage everywhere you go, it's a given.  
  
I tried to tell Dr. Chambers what I remembered about the attic. It was hard to tell her because I was still afraid of forgetting everything after I spoke the words. But that didn't happen after I told her about reading the bible. She didn't seem too surprised about that, she told me her children read the bible every night.  
  
The one thing I could tell her about was Chris's blood. I don't know if I am ashamed or just afraid she will think I am disgusting but I just can't get the words out. I think I will have to tell her because so far she seems unimpressed with the things I do tell her. It doesn't seem to faze her to hear about four children locked in an attic for years. After each session I think more and more that she doesn't believe a word I'm telling her.  
  
Maybe I can't blame her. Who could believe a story about an evil grandmother who locks kids up? Or a mother who abandons her children for money. It does sound too cruel to be true. But it Is true and I want someone to believe me.  
  
It had been awhile since I had had any hallucinations about the grandmother or the attic. I was happy about that. My biggest fear was that I'd have an episode and they'd take me back up to the third floor to lock me up again. I didn't think I could stand that again. I needed to be able to leave me room when I wanted. That room reminded me too much of the room the grandmother kept us in.  
  
One day Wendy, Jordan and I were in the recreation room watching a movie. I was really into it. I liked movies a lot because we rarely ever watched them. I liked to see someone else's life instead of dwelling on my own.  
  
At one point in the movie a white mouse ran across the girls foot and she screamed.  
  
"Eww, I hate rats," Wendy said.  
  
"That's a mouse, and they are perfectly clean," I told her. I don't know where this came from. I didn't remember ever seeing a mouse or a rat, let alone holding one.  
  
Wendy stared at me a moment and then went back to watching the movie.  
  
"Did you have a pet mouse?" Jordan asked me later that night when it was time for us to go to sleep. I didn't know how to answer that, because I didn't remember a specific mouse but I knew that I had a pet. I loved him so much, I wanted to see him again.  
  
"I think so," I told him.  
  
"We should catch one in the bathroom," Jordan said.  
  
We had heard rat noises in the bathroom like they were scurrying around in the walls. It had never bothered me before but some of the kids wouldn't go in the bathroom alone because they thought a giant mouse would come out of the wall or something.  
  
"Tomorrow maybe," I said.  
  
I fell asleep after that and dreamed of the attic. Cathy was up there in her pink tutu. She looked so happy dancing to the Nutcracker. I liked to watch her when she was this happy. It didn't happen often for her or the rest of us.  
  
I saw that Chris was watching her too. But he had a funny look on his face. Kind of like he wanted to dance with her maybe. He was holding his hands just under his waist and when Cathy turned off the music he bolted down the stairs and into the bathroom. Cathy didn't see me standing in the shadows. I didn't want her to see me. She didn't know I liked to watch her. I liked having a secret. She looked sad now with the music off. I wanted to tell her to turn it back on but I didn't want to give myself away. She sat down on a dusty dresser and looked down at her feet. Her long blond hair fell over her eyes and I heard her crying. Just softly at first and then louder. Eventually she was sobbing openly, not trying to be quiet at all. I watched in horror as her hair started to grow longer and turn gray before my very eyes. Her sobs turned into cackling, hysterical laughter until she looked up at me. She looked straight at me in the corner and she cackled again.  
  
"It'll never end Cory!" she rasped, "It'll never go away, we will never forget," she said laughing.  
  
"No!" I cried out.  
  
I bolted upright in bed and realized that I was in the small, white room at the institution. Jordan's bed was next to me and he was sleeping soundly.  
  
Just a dream, I thought, relieved.  
  
But the dreams were coming back. I was remembering more and more every day and the bad part was the dreams and flashbacks were going to come on stronger than ever.  
  
Jordan and I did get around to going to the bathroom to get ourselves a pet rat about a week later. I didn't tell anyone about my dream. No one would understand, not even Dr. Chambers. She didn't understand anything I told her. Sometimes I wondered how she had ever gotten this job in the first place. She had the empathy level of a dead fish.  
  
"We should put food by the vent," Jordan said.  
  
I just nodded and watched as he took a piece of bread from his pocket and put it in front of the small vent inside one of the stalls. I didn't think a mouse would come out for that bread but I didn't say anything.  
  
We waited for hours until we heard the announcement that dinner was ready. Jordan decided to leave the bread there and come back and check after.  
  
When we returned, the bread was gone of course. Jordan was so excited.  
  
"It came and took the bread!" he exclaimed.  
  
I tried to be happy but I just wasn't in the mood. I was still nervous about having a flashback come at any time of the day. I wanted to make sure I didn't hurt anyone and I could control it.  
  
"Let's put some more and wait," Jordan said. He broke off another piece of bread and put it out a little further than before. It didn't take long for the mouse to come out to get this snack. He was all white with long whiskers and beady, black eyes. Jordan slammed the cardboard container we had over the mouse and the bread and cried out in triumph. I cried out in terror. I could hear the horrified squeaks of the mouse from inside the box. There were scratching sounds, it was trying to get away.  
  
Suddenly I saw Chris, he was tying two sheets together and throwing them over the window ledge in the attic.  
  
"We can't do it Chris, we'll fall," Cathy objected.  
  
"It's our only chance," Chris told her. Her grabbed a rat from beside him. It was dead. He opened it up and cut a piece of meat fro Cathy. She grimaced but took it anyway.  
  
"For strength," he said.  
  
"We can't eat him," I said.  
  
Jordan looked at me funny, "I don't want to eat him," he said, wrinkling up his nose.  
  
"I don't want to drink the blood," I said, staring at the cardboard box.  
  
"Cory, we're not," he said.  
  
I shook my head violently to get the strange flashback out of my head. I already knew we had to drink Chris's blood. I didn't want to relive them eating the two rats for strength to carry us down the side of the house. I couldn't handle it again.  
  
Jordan managed to get the box turned right side up and he looked inside it. The mouse was shaking in fear. It hadn't even eaten the piece of bread.  
  
"Yes!" he said happily.  
  
We brought the mouse back to our room and put it in the clear, plastic box we had found near the garbage. We put in some food we had saved from dinner and some water. But the mouse didn't eat. It was terrified.  
  
We had to go to sleep an hour later. Jordan didn't want to stop watching the mouse. But he fell asleep on his bed when I told him I would watch it and wake him up if anything happened. Nothing happened. I watched the poor mouse stay in the corner of the box; he didn't eat or drink.  
  
He reminded me of how I felt the first week in the attic. Afraid and confused.  
  
On an impulse, I reached into the box and picked up the mouse. I could feel him trembling. I tiptoed out the door and made my way to the bathroom.  
  
"I'm sorry Mickey, go find your family," I said. I set him down in front of the vent and he scurried away without a look back.  
  
I remembered on the way back to my room, my pet mouse, Mickey. I had loved him but I had trapped him just like we had been trapped. I couldn't do that to little Mickey Junior. I was glad I let him go, no matter what Jordan would say. 


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
"Why did you let him go?" Jordan screamed at me the next morning. He had woken up at the usual time and remembering the mouse, gone to give him some food. He let out a angry wail when he saw the box was empty.  
  
"We shouldn't take him form his family," I told him calmly.  
  
"I WANTED him," Jordan exclaimed. His face was turning red but I just got dressed and left the room for breakfast. I had hoped he would understand but I could see now that that was not going to happen. He was angry with me.  
  
I sat at the usual table for breakfast, waiting for Jordan to come. Wendy came and sat down next to me.  
  
"Where's Jordan?" she asked.  
  
"He's mad at me," I told her.  
  
She didn't say anything after that because Jordan came stomping into the room, his arms crossed over his chest, an angry scowl on his face.  
  
"I'm sorry Jordan, I didn't want to hurt Mickey," I said to him.  
  
"Who is Mickey?" he asked looking up at me, "we didn't even name him yet,"  
  
"I named him Mickey," I said.  
  
"He wasn't your mouse, he was OURS, you can't just do that," Jordan said loudly. A couple of other patients were looking at us now. I shrunk into my chair. I didn't like being the center of attention.  
  
"I'm going to get a new one," Jordan said, standing up. He stomped out of the room.  
  
Suddenly I a wave of fury came over me. I didn't want him to keep a mouse trapped in a box away from his home. I knew what that felt like. I didn't want to inflict the kind of pain one gets from isolation on any other person or animal. No one deserves that.  
  
I shot out of my chair and ran after Jordan. I heard Wendy call to me but I didn't look back. I found Jordan in the bathroom with a piece of bread in the vent and a cardboard box, ready to pounce on the first mouse who came from that hole.  
  
"Don't Jordan," I said, trying to stay calm.  
  
"Shutup," he said glaring at me. Without thinking, I reached out and picked up the piece of bread. Jordan looked at me smugly and ripped off a new piece from the slice he had. I picked that piece up too. This went on until Jordan was out of bread.  
  
"Gimme that!" he yelled.  
  
"No," I yelled back.  
  
"What is going on in here?" a loud, booming voice asked from the doorway. I turned around to find Rufus glaring at us. I shivered in fear and shrunk back against the wall. He came lumbering into the bathroom and stopped in front of me. I kept my eyes down in fear.  
  
"Open your hand," he ordered.  
  
I opened my hand. I couldn't disobey Rufus, he would tell Dr. Chambers and she might send me back up to the third floor.  
  
"Bread?" he asked, "What's this for?"  
  
"A mouse," Jordan piped up. Rufus turned around and stared at him intently. Jordan didn't even flinch.  
  
"Go to your room," he ordered Jordan. He scurried out of the room without a backward glance at me.  
  
"You have a visitor kid," he said.  
  
A visitor? Who could it be? Was it finally Penny come to see how I was doing? Oh, I hoped it was Penny. I hoped she came to bring me chocolate bars that I could share with Jordan so he wouldn't be mad at me anymore.  
  
"Wh-who is it?" I mumbled.  
  
"Go and find out," he said.  
  
Suddenly a vision flashed in front of me. It was of Carrie, Cathy and Chris. They were sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for Mama to come up and see us. We were all hungry. We may have been locked in a room but we knew today was Thanksgiving. Cathy had set the tiny table with nice silverware and plates. I complained about being hungry.  
  
"Eat a couple of raisins, Cory," Cathy told me.  
  
"Don't have no more," I told her.  
  
"The correct way to say that is: I don't have anymore or there aren't anymore," she said.  
  
"Don't have no more, honest." I said again.  
  
"Eat a peanut," she said.  
  
"Peanuts are all gone-did I say that right?" I asked, trying to please her.  
  
"Yes," she sighed, "Eat a cracker,"  
  
"Carrie ate the last cracker." I said.  
  
"Carrie, why didn't you share those crackers with your brother?" Cathy asked.  
  
"He didn't want none then," Carrie said.  
  
Mama was late with our dinner. We were supposed to eat at 12 o'clock everyday. We weren't used to waiting three extra hours for our food. I was hungry now! Why couldn't we leave the room and eat downstairs with everyone else? Why wouldn't they let us see out grandfather? Did he really hate four children he didn't even know that much?  
  
"Kid!" a voice yelled. I jumped. I was back in reality with Rufus at my side. He had a vice grip on my upper arm and it was starting to throb.  
  
"Lets go," he said. I followed him to the room where visitor saw patients.  
  
I thought about my vision for a minute. Mama had broken the promise to bring us a Thanksgiving dinner at twelve o'clock. She spent her time downstairs, free while we were trapped in one room. Why did she get to be free? She was the one who sinned. It wasn't us, why did we have to suffer?  
  
I peered past Rufus and saw Craig sitting at a long table. He looked uncomfortable and ready to jump out of his chair. He slid his chair back and was about to stand up when Rufus said,  
  
"Here's the kid," he left without saying anything else.  
  
I just stared across the room at Craig. There were no other visitors in the room. We were all alone. Why was he here? I never thought that he would ever come to visit me. He barely even talked to me when we lived in the same house, and now he had made a special trip to see me? It didn't make sense, something had to be wrong.  
  
"Come and sit down," he told me. I walked to the table slowly and sat down. I tried to read what he was going to say in his face but he was like the grandmother, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.  
  
"Penny and I have decided that you are too much for us to handle," he said.  
  
I stared at him. Too much for them to handle? They hadn't been parents to me at all in the last two months! I wasn't causing them any trouble by living away from their house.  
  
"We are giving you up, you will be a ward to the state," he said and he stood up.  
  
"That's it?" I asked, "you came here to tell me that?"  
  
Suddenly Craig transformed it the large, gray grandmother. No, no, no, I shook my head, you aren't the grandmother, you are Craig.  
  
"We don't want you," he said, "you are the devil's spawn," the grandmother piped up.  
  
"I'm good! I'm not the devil's spawn!" I yelled at her.  
  
I dove at the Grandmother and latched myself onto her tree trunk of a leg. I wouldn't let her hurt anyone I loved.  
  
"Get off me!" she yelled.  
  
Suddenly Rufus was at my side and reality came back to me. Craig was staring at me in horror. Rufus was holding me up as I slumped down, exhausted. What was the use? I was evil, no one wanted someone who was born from sin.  
  
Craig ran from the room without looking back.  
  
"Good going, kid," Rufus said, "it's back to the third floor for you,"  
  
"NOO!" I screamed. I struggled to get free of Rufus but he was too strong. I kicked and flailed, but he dragged me up the stairs to the third floor where all was quiet and dark.  
  
"NOOOOO!" I wailed in agony. I had to escape this place, I couldn't live in that room, I couldn't!  
  
"Let go of him," I voice said from behind us. Rufus turned around, dragging me with him. To my surprise, I saw the woman that Rufus had been struggling with the first night I was here. Old Lady Suzanne.  
  
"Suzanne, how did you get out here?" Rufus asked, loosening his grip on me. I slipped out from under his thick arms and ran down the hall. Old Lady Suzanne followed me quickly.  
  
"Come back here!" Rufus yelled.  
  
"Hurry," Suzanne urged me. I ran as fast as I could down the stairs to the ground floor. There were security guards waiting for us there.  
  
I stopped and looked back at Suzanne. She just smiled and said, "Good luck," she ran straight at the guards and they all fell into a heap. I took that opportunity to run out the front doors and down the walk that led to the place that I had loved for a short time. The gates were closed but I was able to squeeze through the bars. There is an upside to not eating very much.  
  
I didn't stop running until I got to the small town. I knew security guard would be looking for me. I had to get as far away from here as possible.  
  
But, I had made it, I had escaped. No one was going to control my life anymore. The sun shone in the sky and as I looked up a tit I smiled. I would live outside to make up for all the time I was deprived of fresh air.  
  
The only thing that would make this day better was Carrie. 


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven  
  
The sun shone brightly in the sky. It felt so warm and inviting on my face. It had always been so cold in the institution because of air conditioning. Out here on this warm September day I finally felt normal. No more being locked up for me, I thought.  
  
My stomach growled and I realized I was hungry. I reached into the pockets of my thin gray pants; they were all empty. MY white T-shirt had no pockets. I was walking around this strange town, alone and with nothing but the clothes on my back.  
  
The realization that this wasn't going to be as simple as I thought finally hit me. Where was I going to sleep? What would I eat? I started to panic for a minute. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.  
  
I looked around in desperation. It was sunny today but it wasn't going to be like this everyday. It would get cold and snow in a few months. What would I do then? I could live outside in a T-shirt when it was snowing.  
  
The town was very small. The street I was on had a few shops that seemed to be empty. There were a couple of streets that branched off this main street that I could see but I assumed they would only have houses.  
  
I continued to walk down the road, hoping that somehow a solution would come to me. Somehow I would think of a way out of this. I wished that Chris were here. He would know what to do; he always knew what to do. I was only eight years old, almost nine; I didn't know how to live on my own. What was I thinking running away from the institution?  
  
This town almost looked deserted. I didn't see any cars on the road, no people walking down the sidewalk. I peered into the nearest shop window and it seemed empty. I didn't see anyone inside and the shelves were empty. I frowned in worry and went on to the next shop. It was empty too. All the shops were empty. This was a ghost town!  
  
I ran down the street staring into every window I passed hoping to see a person, anyone. But every single shop was deserted. I turned down the residential streets and ran to the nearest house. It was small beat up bungalow. I pounded on the door, not caring if I sounded desperate. No one answered. No answered any of the doors. All the houses were dilapidated and run down.  
  
No one lived here. I was more alone than I thought.  
  
Should I go back to the institution?  
  
"No," I told myself firmly. I would not go crawling back to a place that would only keep me locked up, hidden away from society. I knew that if I went there I would never leave. I still had so many memories to get at. Dr. Chambers never wanted to talk about my amnesia or what I remembered when I did remember. She only asked about Penny and Craig or Dr. Collins. She always seemed a little afraid to ask about Dr. Collins. She knew that we had been talking about my past when I attacked him. She thought I would do the same to her. She didn't care about helping me; she only wanted to help herself.  
  
I was taken to that institution to stay for good, to get out of the Ferguson's way, not because they truly wanted me to get better.  
  
I would never go back there.  
  
But I couldn't stay here in this town. I had to get somewhere that had shelter and food. I remembered seeing a movie where a woman got a ride from a trucker on the highway. Penny and Craig had been watching it late at night and I watched from the top of the stairs, they never even knew I was there. I did that a lot when I couldn't sleep.  
  
I would have to get a ride from a trucker then. I began walking again towards what I thought was a highway. I hadn't seen any cars go by so far, but someone had to eventually right? And who could resist picking up an eight year old boy? Someone would see me and feel bad enough to stop.  
  
The sun beat down on me but I trekked down the highway, sweating. I thought it was a nice day, but now I was too hot. I needed water. I didn't know how much further I'd be able to go. I had only walked for about an hour, but I was about to collapse.  
  
Just when I was about to sit down and rest, I heard a car approaching from, behind. I turned around quickly and saw a gray van getting closer and closer. I was tempted to step out onto the road to ensure they would see me but I didn't want to hit me by accident. I waved my arms wildly to get the driver's attention. The van made a whooshing sound as it passed me. My heart fell and I turned around, prepared to continue walking.  
  
And there was the gray van. It had pulled over to the side of the road. My heart leaped and I used my last burst of energy to run up to the passenger side door. I pulled it open and pulled myself up onto the step. The driver was a woman, maybe in her late fifties, with black hair that had strands of gray running through it. It was pulled up into a soft looking ponytail. Very different from the Grandmother's severe gray bun. She had dark eyes that looked very soft and loving. She smiled at me and tiny wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes.  
  
"Hello," she said. Her voice was gentle, not harsh like the Grandmother's.  
  
"Hello," I said quietly.  
  
"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" she asked, her smile turning into a concerned frown. I couldn't tell her the truth, could I? No, then she would never give me a ride. I had to make up a story. Anything, but the truth.  
  
"I, uhh." I thought for a minute, hoping it didn't look suspicious and said, "My parents left me here,"  
  
I didn't know what else to say. Would she believe this story, or had I just blown my chance at a ride?  
  
"Oh dear, what parent would leave their child?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock. I just shrugged my shoulders.  
  
"Well get in honey, you can tell me what has happened on the way to Greenglenna," the woman told me.  
  
I got into the van and sat down against the cool seat. The air conditioning was on.  
  
"Is that where we are going? Greenglenna?" I asked.  
  
"That's right," she said.  
  
I had never heard of that town before, but I hadn't been many places in my short life. Half of which had been spent locked up in one place or another.  
  
"I'm Betsy by the way," the woman said smiling. She had very white teeth. They reminded me of Cathy's teeth.  
  
"I'm Cory," I told her.  
  
"So what is a sweet boy like you doing out here?" she asked.  
  
My mouth felt dry and pasty and I swallowed hard.  
  
"Oh dear, would you like some water?" she asked.  
  
I nodded eagerly. She handed me a water bottle and I gulped it down even though it was lukewarm.  
  
"Oh you poor dear," Betsy said worriedly. She handed me a muffin and I gobbled it up without even tasting it. I drank more water and thanked her.  
  
"It's nothing dear, my pleasure," she said.  
  
"I lied about my parents," I blurted out suddenly. I hadn't planned on telling this woman the truth but now I felt like I owed her that much. She was helping me, more than I could say for a lot of people that had come into my life in the last few years. She might think I was crazy but I still felt like the truth would be best.  
  
"You did?" she asked, surprised.  
  
I nodded, "I have no parents that I remember, only my brother and sisters," I told her.  
  
"Oh no," she breathed.  
  
"I want to tell you the truth because you are helping me," I said looking over at her. She was frowning in concern and curiosity. She saw I was serious and pulled off the highway into a parking lot. There was a small family restaurant that looked pretty empty.  
  
"Cory, honey, I can see that you are very troubled and I feel drawn to you. You need someone's help and I feel right now that I am the one to help you. I am lonely, just as you seem to be. I think I was meant to find you on the highway," Betsy said, she had tears in her eyes. I felt tears come to my eyes and they spilled over my lids.  
  
I had never had someone say something like that to me. This woman was the person who was going to help me, I felt sure of that. I would finally find where I belonged. All we had to do was trust each other. And, to my surprise I knew I could trust Betsy.  
  
We went into the restaurant and Betsy ordered us some food. I was grateful just for that much.  
  
I had tried to talk to people about my past but they had never really listened, no the way I wanted them to. Betsy would be different; I just knew she would be. 


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
Betsy turned out to be everything I had ever needed and more. She listened to what I remembered of my story. I even remembered a few new things as I talked to her. Just her presence seemed to bring out the good memories of Cathy, Chris and Carrie. I even remembered my mother and father vaguely. But somehow they were second string to Chris, Cathy and Carrie.  
  
Betsy and I cried together. I felt comfortable telling her about everything. My violent episodes and my horse Spunky. She wasn't frightened when I told her I had almost killed Dr. Collins.  
  
We left the restaurant almost four hours and about five chocolate milk and coffees later. She was taking me to her house in Greenglenna where she said I could live. I was going to have a real home with Betsy. Somewhere where the love could be felt as soon as you walked in the door. Just like it had been before we went to the attic.  
  
I knew though that I could never forget the attic or Carrie, Chris and Cathy. They would always be waiting at the back of my mind.  
  
I felt sure that we would be reunited one day.  
  
I would make sure of that.  
  
A/N***Cory's story is not over yet, he will live in Greenglenna now, the town right next to Clairmont where the rest of the Dollanganger's live with Dr. Sheffield. In the next story, "One Step Away" Cory will grow up quickly and long to see Carrie again. He can no longer be content to wait around for her to come to him. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I loved writing this story and I know I'll love the next one just as much! 


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